Kentucky Kernel -- January 31, 1997

<BODY BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF LINK=#0066ff ALINK=#0066ff VLINK=#660000> <BLOCKQUOTE>    <CENTER> <FONT SIZE=6> <B>Cats' coach calls for more rebounds</B><P> </FONT> </CENTER>    <TABLE CELLPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=0 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT> <TR> <TD> <IMG SRC="/art/97/spacer.gif" ALT="" HEIGHT=1 WIDTH=20><BR CLEAR> </TD> <TD> <IMG SRC="wbball.gif" ALT="Photo" WIDTH=147 HEIGHT=230 BORDER=1><BR CLEAR><P> </TD> </TR> </TABLE>    <FONT SIZE=4><B>By Rob Herbst</B><BR></FONT>Weekend Sports Editor <HR> There really is some good news in the UK women's basketball camp.<P> Turnovers, which proved to be its arch-nemesis earlier in the season, have dwindled to an acceptable number.Too bad the Cats have found a new enemy. <P> Apparently UK (6-13, 0-7) has forgotten how to rebound, judging by their past four performances. <P> "All of our problems aren't going to go away at one time," said UK head coach Bernadette Mattox. "We're a young team right now and we're still learning." <P> With the exception of being its game against Arkansas, the Cats have been dominated on the glass, including a 52-20 disadvantage against Alabama. <P> Wednesday was no different as the Cats had a 47-26 disadvantage on the boards in its loss to South Carolina. <P> "By this time everybody knows the scouting report," Mattox said "It says to crash the glass against Kentucky. That deficiency is evident right now." <P> UK's 68-59 loss to South Carolina kept them winless in the Southeastern Conference. Besides their rebounding problems, the Cats also had a problem shooting the ball. <P> The Cats were only down by a point at the half but shot a paltry 29 percent in the second frame en route to their third straight loss. <P> Although it was another loss for UK, Mattox saw some positives. <P> "I'm going to go back to see the film and see that we really beat ourselves," Mattox said. "It was the best defensive effort of the season, but we just didn't block them out." <P> Mattox added, "When we went down 13, the players really went to war. We could have quit, but we didn't." <P> On Wednesday the Cats cut the South Carolina lead to four points late in the game, but the Gamecocks hit their free throws to seal the win. <P> The Cats also played the final minutes without two of their premiere inside players in Kim Denkins and Katie Vieth. Both players fouled out of the game and left UK with a hole inside. <P> Because UK only suited up nine players, the Cats were left with seven players. <P> Shawn Manning did not play because of a coach's decision, so in essence UK played with six players in the waning moments of the game. <P> It will be a return home for the Cats on Sunday where they take on Auburn (13-6, 2-4). <P> The Cats come back to their home gym after being on the road for more than two weeks. <P> Auburn has won 5-of-6 matchups against UK, including two victories last year. <P> The Tigers thrashed the Cats 88-46 at Auburn and defeated UK 58-43 in the SEC Tournament. <P> "We didn't show up at Auburn last year," Mattox said. <P> "But when we played them in the tournament, we were down only one at the half but just ran out of gas. <P> "I heard one of their players say after the game that they just got smart. I don't think so. I think we just ran out of gas." <P>    <HR> <B>Photo: </B><B>JUST TRY TO STOP ME</B> Junior Vonda Jackson looks to go up strong. The women's team hosts Auburn this weekend in search of their first SEC win. <FONT SIZE=2> <B>JAMES CRISP</B> Kernel staff<BR> </FONT>       <HR> <P> <CENTER> <FONT SIZE=5> [ <A HREF="welcome.html">Contents</A> | <a href="http://www.kykernel.com">Home</A> | <A HREF="/archive.html">Archives</A> | <A HREF="/feed.html">Feedback</A> ]<BR> </FONT> <P> <B>© Copyright 1997, Kernel Press Inc. All Rights Reserved</B><BR>  </BLOCKQUOTE> </BODY>